


Inktober Writing Prompts

by Sapphicnova



Series: Inktober Writing Prompts [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-07 23:22:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 13,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12242631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphicnova/pseuds/Sapphicnova
Summary: Collection of Inktober Writing Prompts, Dominic /Robert Joseph MacCready





	1. Against the Wall

**Author's Note:**

> I think it's about time I got around to writing about my insane love for Mac 'n Cheese. I have a problem. There is no helping me. I have no shame.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some dead merc.

I woke up to the sound of metal clattering to the floor. My eyes snapped open to see Dominic standing over me, his hands bloody, but I knew somewhere in me that it wasn't his. Looking down I saw what seemed to be the inner workings of a synth arm, dripping with the dark fluid.

"He's dead." Dominics eyes were distant.

"You went in alone? Why do you have is arm? Are you hurt?" Scrambling to my feet I looked his face over.

"I'm fine." He pushed my hand away and wrapped me in his arms.

I squeezed him as he buried his face in my shoulder. "How many times do I have to tell you your not in this alone? Why didn't you being me with you?"

"I didn't want to put you in harms way, what if I had found nothing? You could've been in danger for no reason." Dominic let out a shakey breath.

"What did you find?" I kissed his cheek when he pulled away.

"Shaun is, uh, in the Institute." He eyes were damp. "We need to get to Diamond City quick and bring Nick back to see Dr.Amari. Think we're close to something." Dominic pulled a small pink piece of something out of his pack. 

"Did you you tear the guy apart?" I grimised at what looked to be a piece of brain with wires sticking out of it.

"Most of him was human, but it seems his employer was some serious medical prowess." He kicked at the arm.

"Why did you take it?" Trying to imagine him prying the part from the guys body.

"Curiosity I suppose. I wanted to see if all those synth rumors I've heard are true." He started to rummage in his bag. "I got this too." He held up a well crafted pistol. 

"You got some sick kinda curiosity." I shivered. "Let's go find somewhere to wash this blood off and get us to Goodneighbor." 

He nodded a little admiring the weapon. "Right, no time to waste."

 

I leaned against the wall in the basement of the Memory Den, watching from behind as Dominic's eyes flickered beneath his lids, following Nick through the memories of the merc he had murdered earlier that day. My heart stopped when I saw him in the vault, he watched in a sleep like state his wife die and child be taken all over again, his heart rate jumping off Amari's charts. 

The memory ended as quickly as it had began, moving on to a secret institute meeting and then Kellogg's house in Diamond City. I knew inside of me he was remembering that little boys face, memorizing every detail, the way he sounded. Dominic watched as a blue flash of lightening took his boy, zapping him into oblivion.

I waited by his pod for Doctor Amari to get the detective situated and awake, which seemed to take forever. As soon as he was disconnected his eyes flicked open, slowly he sat up, hold his stomach in pain, but not saying anything.

I waited while the doctor gave him a quick once over, checking his eyes and asking him about the courser. 

He rose to his feet, his eyes finding mine, his own sad and asking. Closing the gap between us I wrapped my arms around him, holding him tight as he was racked with sobs.

"I'm so sick of seeing that." He cried. "I dream about it almost everynight, isn't that enough?"

"She was beautiful." I whispered, petting his hair.

He chuckled a little. "She was. God she was. You saw my boy? He's a lot older than I expected."

"I did." My mind could only comfort him.

"Oh, before you leave." Dr.Amari spoke up. "Nick wants to have a word with you."

Dominic pulled himself yogether, wiping the tears from his face. "Need a bed." He did look exhausted.

"Yeah, come on." I intertwined our fingers, and lead him away, hopefully yo never see one of those chambers anytime soon.


	2. Self-Employed

I exhaled the anger I had been holding back as Winlock and Barnes shoved past a vaultie, lurking close enough to hear our little spat. His hair was a dark mop pulled into a tie on the back of his head, he looked too tan to be from a vault, but the blue and yellow told a different story.Scavver maybe? There was a pistol strapped to his thigh, a few spare clips tucked into the loops on the chest strap that held an old pre-war military bag around his body. Eyes snapping between me and the exiting men.

He stepped forward, watching them leave over his shoulder. "Fifty caps says you could pop one of their heads off from five-hundred yards."

Picking up my beer I started where I had left off. "Do I know you?"

"No." He threw himself heavily into the couch next to me. "But I know about you."

"Well, I hope the rumors haven't disappointed you." I tugged my rifle across my lap. What did he know about me?

"MacCready is it?" He offered me a hand. Manners, typical vault dweller, as if the suit hadn't given him away already. "Dominic."

"Well... Dominic, did you come all this way for polite conversation?" I shook his hand briefly. Calloused, hard worker.

"No, no, I came all this way to see you get hassled." He cracked a smile, whipping out a pack of cigarettes, offering it my way.

"Gladly." I took one and set back in my chair. "Old bosses, don't understand the word self-employed."

"Now that..." He lit his own already half smoked cigarette and held out his lighter. "That is why I am here. How would you feel about changing that? Or were the guards in Diamond City pulling my leg when they told me about a merc for hire?"

I peered at him through the smoke. Was he serious? After witnessing Gunners on my ass about not working in their territory, he's just asking me to do just that. Like I was going to listen anyway, a mans gotta eat. "I come at a price."

"Well, no shit, you put your life on the line. I don't expect you to do it for free." He delved into the pack he had tossed at his feet.

I heard the familiar clatter of caps.

"Two-fifty, right?" Dominic leaned over holding out the tin. "I really don't have time for games so, if you're up for it I'd like you as an extra gun on my side."

It was hard to hide the visible shock on my face. I'd never met a vaultie that was so... blunt. 

"I don't need a guide, I don't need a nag, I need someone with good aim and knows his way out of a bad situation." He waved the dented box again. "Positions yours if you want it. I can promise there's more where this came from if you agree." The smoke swirled between us.

"On one condition." I felt like I was pressing my luck.

His eyes squinted at me. "A condition?"

"Yes a condition. Loose the vault suit. Mr.One-Eleven. Your get up is literally worse than painting a bullseye between your eyes." I took a swallow of my drink, my eye on the tin hovering between us.

He nodded, pushing it towards me once again. "Deal."

I plucked the caps from his hand. "It's late and I'm tipsy, but if you're on a mission I've been in far worse condition and still pegged a man in the head." Not to toot my own horn. 

"No, I've got a room at The Rexford. I'll come find you went I'm ready. You could join me if you want? Rooms got a couch? Gotta be more comfortable than this place." He gestured towards the couch he was sitting on. "I'm gonna head over there now anyway."

"Yeah. After you boss." I rose to my feet and slung my bag and rifle over my shoulder. Better than sitting around this hole at least.


	3. Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rainy weather got you down? Not as down as having your son kidnapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *dies of embarrassment at aweful Chapter Summary* It's late, please don't judge me. I feel like my writing is trash. Why does it sound so much better in my head?

The weather was making me more and more miserable by the second. It was pouring as we trudged through an open field, Dominic seemed unfazed as he continuously scanned the surrounding area, the toxic water matting his dark hair to the sides of his face. He insisted that despite the rain we head out, whatever was driving him forward must be dam-, incredibly important. Walking in this for hours was enough to wreck anyones tolerance.

"Where are we going, you know, if you don't kind my asking?" I heaved myself forward, catching a crashed vertibird in the distance. 

"Junkyard." He gave me simply, his brow furrowed in a familiar look of frustration, I assumed to do with our current situation.

It was all we had been been doing for the last week, scrounging around junkyards searching for random junk he collected endlessly. He said he was building something, judging by what he picked up it was rather large. What could a vault even need with waste trash anyway? My duster had soaked through to my shirt and I was growing angry.

"Yeah. Boss, I really think we should try to find a place to wait this out." I slowed as we approached the wreck, the skeleton of the pilot still strapped in his seat. 

I heard a whistle as Dominic rounded the nose of the helicopter. My eyes landed on a suit of incomplete power armor. Dominic looked the piece up and down, clearly interested, circling it, stopping at the head of another skeleton overgrown with grass at the heel of the armor. 

"Nice." He leaned forward, scratching a finger on a patch of rust. Pulling his Pip-Boy up to his face he fussed with it for a moment before stepping back and continuing up the hill. I watched as he dug around in the pocket of his jeans, pulling out a couple of hand length metal rods.

As we came to the top I could see a cement building, fenced in. He jogged across the street, almost nonchalantly. I had learnt to brush his weird behavior aside in the last week, wandering around places like an awestruck kid, gawking off like he didn't have a clue where he was. I mean I get it, begin inside a hole in the ground your entire life and coming to the surface to see this mess, probably a little overwhelming. Getting down on one knee he put the metal rods inside, twisting them around a bit before the door clicked open.

I was dumbfounded. "They teach you that in the vault? Hel-Heck of a skill, you should teach me how to do that."

He grinned, but didn't say a word, only swinging the door open and entering.

Inside was lit surprisingly. A desk holding an old computer, set of shelves, a couple chairs, an old tool box all of it covered in years of dust. He locked the door behind me as we both tossed our packs to the ground and pulled off our soaked jackets to hang them up. 

"Ugh, finally." He groaned, dropping to the floor next to his bag and delving into its contents. 

It was the first time I had heard him complain, days of following him through building after building. I eyed him as I pulled out an old rag from my pocket to wipe my gun off, he looked a bit pale in the face. "You feeling okay?"

"Started to feel off about a half mile back." Dominic slung an all too familiar pouch to the floor, Rad-Away. 

"Getting the best of ya is it?" I watched as he pulled out a towel, smart.

He stopped suddenly and closed his eyes, leaning back against the shelf he took a deep breath.

"Here." I kicked the tool box over to him. "If your gonna blow, do it in there so we don't gotta sit in here with a nice puddle of your breakfast."

Reaching for the box he tossed the tools to the floor and shoved his head inside, retching instantly. 

"Feel better?" I laughed, grossed out, but relieved to see the more human side of him. He's been quiet and said barely a word that didn't pertain to giving orders.

"Ugh." He moaned into the box. "No." I heard what almost sounded like a laugh. 

Setting the bucket aside he wiped his face and folded the towel before laying it out on his bag, making a makeshift pillow. 

A nap didn't sound half bad. 

"I hate to be a pain, but have you ever, uh, put one of these in before? I've never used one, 'til now..." He examined the bag, almost as if he were looking for instructions.

"Yeah? Only need 'em if I spend too long in the wrong part of the wasteland though." I shuffled myself across the floor and took the bag from his hand. "Be warned. I am no doctor, and if you bleed out... I told you so." I unwound the needle and popped the cap off, cranking the dial on the side until it spat out the medicine like I had seen Doctor Sun do. 

He watched intently was I shoved his sleeve up, prodding for a vein. I heard a hiss when I punctured the skin, his arm jerking a little.

"Baby." I muttered, strapping the needle in place with the piece of duct tape that had kept it attached to the bag.

"Ha, thanks." He clenched his fist a couple times. "Never really did like needles."

"You'll make it." I yawned, stretching my legs out, the wet fabric clinging uncomfortably to them. "How long you been in the Commonwealth anyway? If you don't mind my asking."

"A while." His eyes were focused on the ceiling. "A few weeks maybe."

"This your first time up here?" Maybe this was my chance to get a little information out of him.

"No." Dominic glanced at his arm and back to the ceiling. 

"Just never seen you around before. There's only a handful of vaulties on the surface, mostly just for supplies. Travis, that guy on the radio, he seems to keep pretty good tabs on people." My curiosity was peaking a little.

"I've been... around." He said, caution in his tone.

Around. Unlikely, I definitely would have heard something, the only thing I had to do at the Third Rail was listen to Magnolia or listen to the radio. I hadn't heard a peep about some new dweller, from vault one-eleven no less, no one had ever seen a dweller from there, from what I heard it just laid silent out in the woods somewhere, everyone assumed the people inside were dead.

"What did you come out for?" I pressed.

He was silent, his jaw working a little in frustration, maybe I'd pushed a button. "I'm the last one."

"The last one? In the entire vault?" I gave him a confused look.

"I, uh, I haven't told anyone this, but since your kind stuck with me I think I should tell you. I'm looking for someone, my son." His eyes grew watery and I wasn't sure if I was ready for some heartbreaking male bonding.

"You don't gotta tell me if you don't want to." But hel-heck if I wasn't glued to my seat.

"My family and I, we were, frozen, like in these cryo-pods, some kind of sick experiment." He sniffled a little. "I don't know when, but someone broke into the vault, stole my son, killed... my wife, I thawed out a few weeks ago and came up here looking for him. He's all I have left."

Thawed out? "What do you mean thawed out? When did they freeze you? This sounds like a god-awful Grognak comic."

He raised his arm, the green screen lighting up his face, a tear running down his cheek. "Two hundred and ten years, five months, three weeks ago."


	4. Lazy Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever lay on the floor and eat some dry cereal while apologizing about having feelings to your hired reinforcements?

I yawned, stretching my arms over my head. From the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a pair of wiggling toes. 

"Dom?" I scowled, rounding the corner to the kitchen. He laid sprawled across the floor, a box of Sugar Bombs balanced on his chest, a fist full of the cereal in his hand.

He looked over at me, crunching down on a mouthful. "Good morning. Want some cereal?" 

I inhaled, why not? Getting down on the floor I took the box from him.

"Well I didn't mean you had to get on the floor." He shrugged.

"Is this a thing of yours? Laying on the floor? Should I expect this from you?" I grabbed my own handful.

"I suppose." He chuckled, pointing to the roof. "There's a hole in the ceiling. I'm just laying down here thinking about how much I don't want to get up on a ladder and fix it in this heat."

"Mhm, if it rains again you're going to regret it." I handed back the box. "We going anywhere today?"

"Eventually." He sighed. "You in a rush?"

"No, no. Just wondering. You ever gonna tell me what your building by the way?" I reached over his head and grabbed his can of water. 

"A couple things actually." He stretched and arm up and felt around on the edge of the table, finding an old battered book.

"A motorcycle?" I gave him a look as he handed it to me. I flipped through it, a lot of words and diagrams didn't make sense to me. "You think you can actually get one of these working?"

"I've got most of it together, just missing a few of the smaller parts. It's down in the garage." He filled his mouth full of cereal again.

"Good luck." I huffed, throwing the book back onto the table, getting to my feet.

"Before you go..." He tugged on my pant leg. "I wanted to apologize for the other day."

"What about the other day?" I knew what he was talking about, but why was he apologizing?

"I've had a rough couple of weeks." He let his head drop to floor. "I was tired, sick, and drenched, just kinda had a moment of weakness. But, thanks for listening I guess is what I'm trying to say."

"Get me drunk enough and you may just have to repay the favor." I offered him my hand.

"If you say so." He grinned and took my hand, heaving himself to his feet. "I guess I'll go get my shit together."

"Where are we headed today?" I swallowed the last of the water and set the can on the counter.

"I was thinking maybe Corvega. They make cars, they gotta have a few of the pieces that I'm looking for." Dominic crumpled the bag back into the box.

I laughed. "You know that place is like packed to the brim with raiders right?"

"Oh..." He seemed to think for a moment. "I guess I'll be bringing more ammo then planned." 

"You think?" I walked away shaking my head. "That armor you fixed up should be dry by now right?" 

"Yeah, definitely. Probably shouldn't fight raiders in our skivvies. Meet you downstairs?" He set the box on the table next the unused bowl, taking his manual.

"You think it's worth it? Going through all this trouble for a motorcycle? You don't even know if it will work." 

"It's is worth the trouble. My son is worth everything to me, I'll take every bullet necessary." His face was stern.

"Okay then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for all of these being super short...


	5. First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The best time to deliver god-awful pick up lines is while hiding from Super Mutants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dominic used Charm, flustered Mac is flustered. Sorry not sorry.

My lungs heaved as we ran through the halls, looking for any place to hide. "I gotta quit smoking."

"Ha." Dom chuckled a little. He rounded a corner just ahead of me, suddenly grabbing my arm as I followed suit. He crammed me into a tall cabinet, though not quite tall enough for him, yet he squeezed inside with me, closing the doors behind us.

"A cabinet? Really?" I hit him with the butt of my rifle. 

"What?! What do you want from me?" I could barely see him in the faint light, his arm was on the wall behind me, bracing himself in his awkward hunched position. 

"Ain't so great being tall NOW, is it?" I teased, fitting perfectly inside, other than being cramped.

I heard him huff, amused. "So, uh, come here often?" He leaned a little closer, wiggling his brows.

"There are literally super mutants chasing us. Shut your face." I hissed at him.

"Is it hot in here or is it just you?" He continued, the humor unrelenting. 

I hated to admit it, but I felt something akin to embarrassment, flustered maybe. Either way I just wanted him to keep his mouth shut, they were stupid, but not THAT stupid, if he didn't be quiet they were going to find us. 

"Oh come on, I've got a least a half-dozen mo-" I cut him off by slapping a hand over his mouth. His eyes snapped to mine as we heard a sound that made our blood run cold. The beeping of an armed nuke, presumably strapped one of the oversized idiots.

"WHERE ARE YOU PUNY HUMAN?!" The rough voice rang out, a fair distance down the hall.

I could feel my heart thumping wildly. 

"WHERE ARE YOU?! CAN'T HIDE FOREVER!" The voice grew closer. It's was hard to believe they were human once.

Dominic leaned back, pulling my hand away. I held my rifle tight, the chains on their armor chiming with each step closer. It was like time had stopped, both of us just staring at each other, waiting, our breath shallow. 

"WILL FIND YOU HUMAN!" The mutants voice was right outside the doors, their pace slow, listening for us. The seconds ticked by, the two of us frozen. They shuffled past, the beeping following the leader of the pack. We waited, the minutes ticking by before he clicked the door open the peek. 

"You ever heard this one." Dominic piped up.

I rolled my eyes and stepped out of the cabinet.

"I don't have a library card, but would you mind if I checked you out?" He pointed his fingers at me gun style and winked.

I started walking back the way we had came, determined to not let him see how crimson I was. "Don't you think you should be saving these for someone else?"

"Why?" He sound genuinely confused. "They not working on you?"

I stopped, a little stunted, was he trying to get them to work on me? "What? Are you saying you WANT these cheesy pick-up lines to work on me?"

"Well, that was the intention. But I see my charm has failed me." He walked passed me giving me an evil little grin. "Are you blushing Mac? Maybe it's working after all."

I couldn't find the words. He was actually hitting on me, him, a two-hundred year old ex-military vaultie. 

"I see your speechless." Dominic continued down the hall with a cocky little stride.

Picking up my pace I met his stride, hitting him again with my gun. "That's all? You're just going to tell me you're trying to flirt with me and just walk away."

"I'll keep trying, one of these days it'll work." He gave me a look, stopping himself this time. "You don't believe me? Do you?" 

"Well, frankly... no. I seems like just today you've decided to grace me with this knowledge. Do you actually like me... like that?" 

"What are we in middle school? Yes, I like you." Dominic's face nearly split in two with the smile that spread across his face. "I don't know if it's a proximity thing or just hanging out with you all day, but I'd like to get to know the real MacCready, I mean I barely know anything about you, I don't even know what RJ stands for." He shrugged, a little embarrassed with himself.

"It's Robert. Robert Joseph." I could barely get the words out.

"I didn't mean now." He laughed. "I mean, maybe let me make you dinner, some wine, let me into that quiet little head of yours."

"This is all very sudden." I admitted to him.

"Is that a yes?" Dominic made a face.

"Uhm, yeah. Sure." I nodded, all articulation gone.

"Great." He stuck his hand out. "Deal?"

I put my hand in his, shaking it once before he pulled it to his mouth, giving it a quick peck and releasing it.

"Now I do believe we were on the run from some mutants." Dominic pointed a thumb to the door not far behind him he took a few steps backward.

"I believe so." Agreeing as I became blinded by the light from outside.

Man, was today a turn around or what? I followed him as he lead us back around the building toward the front entrance. Was I nervous? God, I haven't felt like this since Lucy. All my focus had been thrown out the window. He knew nothing about Lucy, Duncan, the money I sent him, he didn't even know much about my time with the gunners. I've I agreed to.


	6. Sad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Such. Sadness. And a first smooch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I like these damn pick up lines so much? What is wrong with me?

The sky was overcast and growing darker as we crossed the bridge, on our way home from Goodneighbor. It only took a few steps before I noticed Dominic had stopped following. He stood still, silent, looking out over the dark water, something on his mind. Taking a few steps back I leaned on the guard rail.

"You okay?" I asked gently, noticing tears at the corners of his eyes.

"I have no idea... what I'm doing Mac." He spoke quietly, the salt water spilling over and running down his cheek.

I looked out over the water with him. "Does anyone?"

"I was here with Nora, days before the bombs went off." Dominic ran his hand along the cement. "If she could see this place now... God, every corner I turn I have old memories, memories with her, with people who are long gone. Every time I stop for too long it all creeps back into my head and it.. it tears me apart." He took a deep breath.

"Is there anything I can do?" I watched his brow furrow as he tried to hold it all back.

"Would you be opposed to leaving me here for a little while?" He gave me a quick glance, sniffing a little.

"Yes, yes I would mind leaving you here. It's getting dark, and it's cold out." I stood up straight and gestured to the sky. "Plus it looks like the sky is ready to let go any minute, if you stay out here I'm staying with you." I couldn't just leave him out here, it wasn't safe and not that I could tell him, but I was worried, not just that he may get killed but what he may do if it's all too much. "Take as long as you need."

In two long strides Dominic had his arms around me, squeezing me to him. I was frozen for a moment before I wrapped my arms around him, rubbing his back as he started to cry. 

"What if I don't find him Mac? What if he's gone? If he's scared out there?" I felt so sorry for him, I almost wanted to cry with him, but he didn't need that now.

"You'll never forgive yourself if you stop looking, you know that as well as I do, and I know you won't." I didn't know what to do. Most of the time he was confident and fearless, but this side, I had seen only a little when he told me he was the only one left, it was part of him that had been hidden behind those cold grey eyes everytime he looked into the horizon.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, releasing me and stepping away, running his hands over his head, gripping it like it was going to fall to pieces. "We should go."

"Only if you're ready."

"God..." He laughed, heaving out a breath of air. "I'll never be ready. The world has changed so much, everything, everyone gone, I feel so alone. Isolated. Everything is always trying to kill me, I'm on guard twenty-four seven, I barely sleep, every nerve in my body is shot. I just want to wake up and have everything go back to normal." Dominic squeezed his eyes shut, leaning against the bumper of a car he wiped away the tears with his palms. "I can't trust anyone."

"I have to say I'm a little offended." I gave him the best smile I could give while he was trying to break my own heart in two. "What am I chopped liver?"

"I'd probably be rotting somewhere if it weren't for you." He gave me a grin, his eyes all red and still a bit watery.

"You're not alone out here. I've got your back." I shrugged. "I made a promise to myself I would stay with you until the day you found your son, I get that I do. I know if someone took Duncan I would loose my god dam- freaking mind."

"You've got a son?" He asked, rubbing his face.

"Yeah, he's two and four-hundred miles away."

"Jesus." He hissed. "You must think I'm some big cry baby huh?"

"I've done my fair share of crying. His mother, Lucy, was mauled by ghouls in front of our faces, I had all we could do to escape with the clothes on my back and him in my arms, we had nowhere to run." I shook my head, feeling my own emotions bubbling to the surface. "I get it."

He nodded a few times. "Life fucking sucks."

"You could say that again." I followed suit, sitting on the bumper of the car, it's rusted springs creaking under our weight.

"Hey Mac?" It didn't really sound like a question.

"Hm?" I looked over to him, his hand catching around my neck, bringing his lips softly to mine. His lips were warm, gentle, sending my heart flying. His hand released me, his mouth disappearing as quickly as it had arrived. Funny how a few bad pick up lines and a heart-to-heart could lead to a chaste kiss in the dark on a bridge.

I grinned, laughing at myself. "Was that a nuke or did you just rock my world?"

Dominic smiled, letting out a bit of a chuckle. "You can't go stealing my lines now, there the only trick I've got."

"Well I guess you're just going to have to try a little harder." I hopped up from my spot, nodding for him to follow me. "Maybe run a few more by me on our way home."

"Deal." Dominic rose to follow. "Your hand looks heavy, can I hold it for you?"


	7. Stargazing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to teach Mac about greek mythology on a roof at night through the use of vague elementary knowledge and a globe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, so tired. Must sleep. Can't even.

I was incredibly comforting laying against his chest, the warmth of his body cutting out the cold of the night as we lay on the roof of the Red Rocket.

"You see those?" He pointed. "The three in a row? That's Orion's belt. All I know is that he was a hunter in Greek mythology."

"Greek mythology?" Not understanding his pre-war star stories.

"Yeah, it's a place across the ocean." Dominic suddenly jumped up and ran into the house, coming back seconds later with an old globe he had dragged home, spinning it almost the entire way. He settled back into his spot and pulled me to his chest. "Here." He pointed in the bright glow of his Pip-Boy. "This is where we are. This..." He moved his finger a little. "This is where Duncan is." Spinning the globe around he placed his finger again. "Greece. I wonder what's left of it?"

"This is where Orion is from?" I was a little confused.

"Yeah, it was a religion I guess, thousands of years before my time. Gods and Goddesses were the rulers of certain things. Kinda how like the Children of Atom believe the radiation is gonna heal them or whatever it is they think it's going to do. Greeks though these gods changed the tide, made volcanoes burst and sent famines into the land. All the stories were connected somehow." He looked up to the sky again, setting the globe aside. "That up there, the three in a triangle, that's Cassiopeia, she was chained upside down in a chair for trying to kill her daughter for being prettier than her or something like that. I learnt all this in like grade school so a lot of it's not all there."

"That's okay. I wouldn't know anyway." I shrugged, wastelanders have bigger things to worry about than the stars. 

"Did you have any kind of formal schooling? I know there's a school in Diamond City, but you grew up in Washington." He looked down at me.

"Not really. The kids who knew how to read and write at Little Lamplight taught the younger ones. I can do the basics I guess, enough the not get swindled." I tugged down the sleeves of my sweater and closed my eyes, yawning as I tucked my head against his shoulder. It felt like he had become the safest place in the world, though it was incredibly terrifying it was just equally pleasant. 

Rolling to his side he pulled me against him, I could feel his eyes on me. "Are you falling asleep on me?" He asked, fussing with my loose hair.

"Maybe a little. I'm fuc-freaking exhausted." I opened my eyes to find him inches from my face, eyes focused on mine.

"Are you telling me I shouldn't work you so hard?" Dominic ran his thumb along my jaw.

"Yeah, where can I file my complaint?" I grumbled.

"Right here." He leaned in, planting his lips on mine, for the second time. Hooking an arm around his neck I pulled myself flush against him, a little more determined not to let him get away this time. Dominic pulled himself up on his elbow, rising over me, his torso holding me beneath him as he deepened the kiss. 

I pulled away, taking in a quick breath of night air. "My heart never recovered from the last one of these you gave me." 

"Oh, my bad. Let's see how well you recover from this." He wiggled his brows before assaulting my face with small pecks all over.

"Jesus, Dom, what the he-heck? Come on!" I squirmed a little, planting my hand over his face, stopping him. I then felt his tongue run up the center of my palm. "Aw, man!" I wiped it on his face. "That's what you get."

"I deserve that." He nodded, wiping it on his shoulder.

Leaning towards him I sucked up all the doubt in my brain that had been holding me back and pulled him into another kiss. Quick, painless, trying to let him know this wasn't all one sided. 

"Maybe we should take this inside? It's getting kinda chilly." His eyes were lidded as he offered me his hand, pulling me to my feet with him. 

Picking up the blanket he wrapped me in it and picked up his gun and globe. He set them both aside once we were in the house and went back to lock us in for the night. Taking me by the hand he flicked off the lights to the living room and pulled me forward as he backed into his room. 

"I think it's gonna get pretty cold tonight, you should definitely stay in my room, for warmth and all." Dominic started to kick off his boots, stripping out of his shirt. 

I could help but be mesmerized by the sight of him, his body practically untouched by the wasteland, no doubt healthier than anyone else in the Commonwealth. Sticking a foot against the back of my heel I swung off my own boots, kicking them aside.

"Fair is fair." He teased. 

"Ha, you're funny muscle man, atleast you got something to show off, I'll actually freeze in my sleep if I take this thing off, have you seen how scrawny I am compared to you?" I flopped down on the bed, holding the blanket open for him. 

"Suit yourself." He leaned over and pulled the chain on the bedside table, plunging us into darkness, I felt his warm body crawl in next to mine. Dominic wrapped his arms around me, making me self-conscious.

"Well, heck, I could get used to this." I shimmed down, tucking my face against his bare chest. "Yeah, this could be a nice arrangement."

I heard a small laugh in the darkness as he hugged me tighter, a sense of euphoria spreading through me. This was the place to be, most definitely.


	8. Drunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gets a little smutty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In dedication to this chapter I have attempted to write it half-under the table. I apologize in advance for my poorly written content.

Swinging the door closed behind me I caught Dominic bopping along the the radio, a brown bottle in his hand.

"Having a party without me?" I tossed my rifle and jacket in my locker, catching him by the waist. 

"No, course not." His words slurred a little. "Jus' havin' a little ol' fashioned fun."

His flannel was open to expose his bare chest, the little purple bruises I had left were fading. 

"You wanna dance with me?" He smiled down at me swaying his hips to the tune.

"I can't dance." I squeezed him a little, give him a peck on the cheek.

"No, no. Come on." He tugged at my sleeve as I pulled away. "Please." 

"Jesus, you weren't lying about that silver tongue were you?" I allowed him to pull me back into his arms.

"What can I say? I few drinks and I can be pretty persuasive." Dominic smile widened as he took my hand spinning me around quickly.

"I tear open my shirt and show Rosie on my chest, 'cause I'm wanderer, yeah, a wanderer, I roam around, around, around, around." His eyes were closed as he belted out the words, the long dark strands free from the elastic he always kept it in. I had never really seen it down, I'd never met a man with such long hair either, most people in the Commonwealth tried to keep it short out of ease.

Tugging a little I stopped him, his eyes popping open, the drunk little grin spreading across his face again. His cheek was warm as I placed a hand on it, my fingers slowly finding their way to his hair, raking through it slowly. He swayed a little, eyes closing again, head falling into my hand. Taking my opportunity I kissed him, the taste of rum on his lips. Dominic hummed a little, wrapping himself around me.

"You're really cute, I ever tell you that?" He spoke in a hushed breath, moving his kisses along my jaw.

"No. No, you haven't?" I swayed with him. "Plus that's a total crock."

"Woah, hey, that's my boyfriend you're talking about, watch your mouth or I might have to teach you a thing or two." I felt his mouth start to move over the tender spots on my neck, sending shivers all over me. Dropping his shoulders his hands grab the back of my thighs, lifting me off the floor. Swinging us around Dominic took a few paces to the couch, laying me down, pinning me beneath him.

"Hmm... boyfriend, huh? Do I get a say in this?" I teased, holding his face between my hands, his eyes focused on me.

"Well, if you say yes then you get a say on everything." He pressed his mouth to my palm, giving me a puppy dog look.

"Now why would I do something like that?" I joked, rubbing his cheek with my thumb.

He looked a little confused for a moment, brow furrowing as he seemed to process my words. "You don't want to?" He looked more than a little disappointed. 

"Are you kidding? Of course I do." Maybe sarcasm and alcohol didnt' mix with him. "On one condition."

Dom's ears perked up a bit.

"Tomorrow you need to take a break from all that tinkering going on in the garage and take me out to kill something, I've been growing more and more stir crazy the last couple days waiting to head out somewhere." I didn't care where we went, just anywhere outside the walls of this Red Rocket. 

"Yeah, yeah of course." He scrambled to give me another kiss, his hair tickling my face. Dominic wrapped his hands around my hips, pushing my t-shirt up, fingers tracing the thin muscles on my chest.

Folding an arm behind my head I let him work his hands over me, his mouth finding their way to my bare flesh. One thing was for sure, the last few days had been filled with long slow make-outs and one particularly hot grinding session, things I hadn't felt in ages. Dominic was talented, charming, romantic, all qualities that the Commonwealth lacked. With the flick of his tongue against my skin I snapped out of my thoughts. Peeking down I caught him fumbling with the button of my pants.

"Dom." I pet his hair with my free hand, nervous that he was about to take things to the next level. 

In one swift tug he pulled my pant a bit lower, I suddenly found myself to be very self-conscious.

"Yeah." He hummed, pulling himself back to the head of the couch. 

"Are you sure you want to, uh, do THAT?" I moved my hand to hold my pants closed.

"Not if you don't want to." His voice a little more serious, he cared, I could see the concern on his face.

"I meant, I didn't say I didn't WANT it, I just want to make sure you knew what you were getting yourself into." The flush in my cheeks grew a little hotter as I watched Dominic's eyes shift from worry to lust.

"I know very well what I'm getting myself into." He laid his body next to mine, snaking an arm around my neck. 

His fingers drifted down my stomach, making it do flops as it came over mine, pushing it out of the way. I couldn't help but twitch a little as his hand closed over my boxers. He began moving slowly, watching himself work between my legs, the heat growing there while I tried to choke back moans and attempted to keep my breathing even. In one deft move of his hand he was beneath the fabric, his hand wrapping his around me. My attempts to keep quiet were thrown out the window, a curse betraying me as it slipped between my teeth. Dominic's eyes came to rest on my face, a low growl of approval vibrating through his chest.

Taking ahold of his shoulders I pressed my chest to his, our mouths slamming together, tongues moving in unison against each others. "Don't stop." I managed to whisper. "God, don't stop."


	9. Domestic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some breakfast and a plan of action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if Mirelurk eggs taste fishy... Wouldn't it be horrifying to find a baby in one when you cracked it open for breakfast? It's still food though...

I pulled the blanket tight around me as I emerged from the bedroom, my toes growing instantly cold when they had touched the ground. The smell of food had woken me from the first night of peaceful sleep I had in awhile. 

"Well, look at you." I hummed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

Dominic's head whipped around, instantly breaking into that heart-throb smile.

"Someone looks awake." He poked fun at my appearance, glancing at the mop of messy hair I knew was on top of my head. 

I laughed a little as I began to process what was infront of me. Dominic had on a checkered pink apron over his jeans, his chest bare. The couple pans in-front of him sizzled, the sound was satisfying, making my stomach growl. Padding my way over to him I leaned against his back, twinning my blanket wrapped arms around his waist.

"I hope you're hungry. I've got radstag, boiled carrots, and some scrambled mirelurk egg." He jostled a little while he prodded at the food. 

"Ugh, I could eat a whole radstag." I joked, pulling away to sit at the table. 

"Here." Dom leaned over, holding out a fork, a piece of meat and a slice of carrot on the end. "Tell me if they're ready." 

Popping the food into my mouth I became a little jealous. "Is there anything you don't know how to do?"

"Play guitar. I've always wanted to play guitar." He shook his head a little as he plated the food, delivering it with a quick kiss to my cheek. Peeling off his apron he plopped down in the seat across from me, cracking open a can of water he had on table.

I quickly crammed a forkful in my mouth. It wasn't often we got a hot, fresh cooked meal, though it happened more now that I actually had a place to call home, it was still new to be eating on a regular basis. My mind instantly thought of Duncan, he would make all of this even better. I had a steady flow of caps I was sending him, a home... a lover, all it was missing was him.

"You okay Mac?" Dom snapped me out of my frozen state.

I swallowed. "Actually, I, uhm, was wondering if maybe I could ask a favor of you?"

"You don't need to call it a favor, I'd do anything for you." He said simply, gulping down half the can of water.

"My son..."

"Duncan." He nodded, sawing into his steak.

"He's sick." I put my fork down, my interest in food lost for the moment.

Dominic's eyes snapped to mine immediately.

"I didn't come to the Commonwealth just to earn money for him. I came for a cure. I've been waiting for the right time to tell you, to tell anyone really, I wanted someone I trust because I can't do it by myself."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Dominic seemed a little offended. "You could've told me from day one and we could've been looking."

"We don't need to look. I know where it is. It's at MedTek, inside the research facility, underground." I chewed my lip nervously, afraid the more details I gave the less likely he'd be to help me.

He nodded again, stabbing at his plate. "We'll go after breakfast."

"It's dangerous Dom... I know I shouldn't ask you to put yourself in harms way like this, you do so much for everyone already, the place is crawling with ghouls, the last time I went in I barely made it to the second floor." Did he not understand the danger?

"If you don't want to go just tell me what you're looking for and I'll go by myself." Dominic was too busy wolfing down his food.

"I'm not letting you go alone." Not a chance in the wastes.

"Then it's settled, eat up." He smiled at me, the look in his eye one of unrelenting determination.

Stretching out an arm I took his free hand in mine. "Was everyone pre-war as pushy as you?"

"No one like me." He winked. 

Part of me couldn't believe that it was that easy. I'd been waiting and just like that he agreed, like it was nothing. To be honest my brain was telling me how dangerous it was, images of Lucy flashed behind my eyelids, bloody and being torn apart alive. I was scared. Ghouls had never been my favorite, but revenge was sweet and I had killed every last one I found plaguing to Commonwealth. I watched him silently, if he was scared I don't think he'd ever tell anyone. The way he charged into fights, the way he fired his rifle with deadly accuracy, the absolute anger in his eyes as he knocked the teeth out of a raider, all of it without even a hint of fear. With him on my side my anxiety wasn't lessened though, I had someone to lose, someone to be worried about, with him Duncan's future lied. Godforbid he didn't make it, how long would it take me to find someone else to help? Would anyone even help at all? Selflessness like Dominic's was rarer than a Nuka-Quartz in the desert. Dare I say I was falling in love with this man, two-hundred years had separated us and yet through it all luck had brought him to that dirty bar, looking for me.


	10. Bridal Carry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PREVENT.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I kinda haven't been on top of things.

My legs were taken out from underneath me as the ghoul dove to the floor, the wind was knocked from my lungs as I was slammed into the reactor. Gnashing teeth and ragged nails were tearing at my pant leg, I kicked at it , knocking it away with a bloody mouth, a blast from my rifle leaving a hole where its right eye had been. 

I scrambled to my feet throwing myself in Dominic's direction, tackling the ghoul that had him on the floor. His pistol swung into view when its head hit the floor, with a satisfying squelch of flesh it went limp. 

Dom closed his eyes, lungs heaving a little. "Ugh. Jesus, Mac, you tryin' to kill me?"

"Not.. funny." I wheezed, grabbing his arm to pull him up. My left leg felt a little off as I tried to straighten it, I had to lean on the table for stability.

"I saw one of 'em knock you around, get up there." He nodded to the surface. "Kick ol' Mr.Bone's off."

With his help I pulled myself up on the table, laying down where the skeleton had been.

Holstering his pistol Dom moved down the table, tugging my pant leg up as far as it would go. I say him grimace a little, but it was quickly replaced with a serious one.

"I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt." Pinning my leg to the table he wrapped his hands around my knee, with a quick jerk I heard a snap.

"FUCK!" I shot up into a sitting position, grabbing at Dominic's shoulder, I could feel the blood draining from my face. 

"Easy. Deep breath." He threw his pack on the table. "Hard parts over. Lay back down, I'll see what I can do for that bite."

Nodding I let him guide me back down, taking a shaky inhale. Folding an arm behind my head I knocked my fist against something. Arching my head back I picked up the unfamiliar object, flipping it over in my hands before I realized.

"Dom..." I grabbed his sleeve, pulling for his attention. "Dom look."

His gaze slowly worked it's way up to mine, fixing on the device in my hand. "Well damn." He smiled, leaning down to kiss me quickly before returning to my wound.

My cheeks suddenly grew warm as tears started to roll from the corners of my eyes. My fingers grazed over the word, PREVENT. He was going to be okay. I couldn't control myself as I began to sob, clutching it to my chest, a bit of hope growing in my chest. I pulled myself up again, ignoring the pain in my leg.

"Hey, punk, I'm trying to fix you here will you quit..." His words stopped as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, reciprocating, squeezing me tight.

"Thank you." I could feel myself breaking down, sniffling into his flannel.

His lips pressed to the top of my head, petting me, rubbing my back, holding me until I could pull myself together. He stroked the tears from my cheeks with his thumb, his cool grey eyes understanding and sympathetic. "I'm going to miss you."

"What?" I scowled. "What are you talking about?"

"The cure. You're taking it back to him are you not?" Dominic held my face in his hand, eyes tracing my face.

"I promised I'd stay with you. Your son is still missing, I owe you everything I could possibly give you. You've helped me save my son, now it's my turn." I pulled him down to my level, smothering him with the most passionate kiss I could muster. There weren't words for what was swirling inside me, there weren't enough hours in the day to show him how much all of this meant to me.

"I wouldn't stop you." He muttered when I let him go. 

I laughed a little. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No, no of course not, but if you want to go than you're free to." Dominic rifled around in his bag, pulling out a syringe of Med-X.

"I love you too much to let you do this by yourself." I got a little queasy saying those words.

His hands stopped, brushing over my knee. "You love me?" His eyes searched mine, the light above them making them shine like I had never seen them before.

"I do, of course I do." I held his face in my hand. 

"I love you too." He straighten up, pressing his body against my own, lips finding there way to mine. I could've sworn I'd taken some jet the way my heart fluttered and my head blurred. He loved me. 

My moment was quickly interrupted when the stab of a needle pierced my leg. "Son of a-" I slammed my fist into his chest piece. "Way to convey your emotions Dom."

He watched the medicine drain into my leg, slapping a piece of duct tape over the puncture when it finished.

"You know this is going to make me unless for a couple hours." I rubbed the area as it started feeling numb almost immediately. 

"That's okay. Throw that miracle medicine in your pack, I'll carry you." Dominic smiled as he gathered his belongings, tucking his gun away and securing his own pack. 

He leaned over to me, scooping me up in his arms with ease. The Med-X had made it's way through my leg, spreading up my torso before we even made it to the elevator. I held tight as I could around his neck, the cool air hitting me, I realized we had spent all evening clearing the building. My eyes felt heavy leaning against his chest.

"I'm worried Dom." I mumbled.

"Is that so? About what?" His voice seemed far away.

"I'm tired. What if you..." I yawned. "What if you get in trouble?"

"It's fine. I'll watch over you. Just sleep. When you wake up we'll be in Goodneighbor."

Those were words I couldn't fight. My eyes drifted shut, the sound of footsteps the last thing I heard.


	11. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The smut is strong with this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beware of smut. I apologize for being a day late with these all the time.

The first thing I felt was the warm body sleeping next to me, the familiar scent of my bed mate causing me to sigh in contentment. I stretched, instantly regretting the decision as I crumpled back together, my knee shooting a pain through my leg. I grumpily sat up, swinging said leg over the edge of the bed, out of the warmth of the blanket. I was met with the familiar wallpaper of the Rexford. My knee was bruised and purple, slightly swollen beneath the piece of tape. I scowled as I caught a glimpse of my ankle, two half moons of small stitches was covered in a sticky mess. Had he patched me up? Did he get Dr.Amari to do it? We had come in late last night I imagine so probably not.

Tucking myself back into bed I wrapped an arm around him. "Hey." I nuzzled into his neck, disturbing his peaceful sleep. "Hey Doc."

He inhaled a little deeper, grumbling as he realized he was awake. "No." He wrapped the blanket up around himself, pulling me in with it. Dominic pulled me up close to him, resting his face in the fabric of my t-shirt.

"Thank you." I pet his hair, watching as he continued to groan.

"If you were that thankful you should've let me sleep." He complained.

"Big baby." Was he always this hard to wake up? I imagined a pre-war teenage Dominic being just as difficult. "I'm going to get dressed and head over to Daisy's. I don't want to miss getting the cure on her next caravan north." I struggled against his hold on me.

"She has it already." He protested, dragging me in to be the little spoon, swaddling me against him, planting a warm kiss on my shoulder. "I'm comfortable, I'm warm, Nick isn't expecting me at any certain time, just a few more minutes." His hand wrapped around my waist, rubbing his thumb across my back. 

"You wanna have a little fun?" I arched against him, pressing my butt against him.

"And hurt your knee more? How about we give it a couple days?" He tried to be the voice of reason.

Screw reason. Reaching down I ran a hand down his forearm, guiding his hand beneath my boxers, feeling confident and more than a little frisky.

I heard him sigh as he rest his head on my shoulder, taking control of the situation, slowly stroking my manhood. I bit my lip to keep myself from embarrassing myself as began to grind against his hand. I felt Dominic's teeth sink into my neck, making my breath shaky, I could feel his own interest against my ass. Releasing me he pushed my underwear down my thighs, then began fussing with his own, I couldn't help but whine a bit when I felt him against my entrance. Throwing an arm down I grabbed a handful of bare cheek, jerking backward slightly I huffed, wiggling a little to position myself.

Wrapping his right arm around my waist and the other beneath my head, holding my chest, he started to rock into me, his lips firm against my skin. God, I just wanted him to touch me. Pushing at his arm I felt a little frantic, I showed him with his own hand what I wanted, moaning as he picked it up quickly, matching it with his rhythm. His tongue slipped between his teeth as he grazed my flesh again. 

My lungs started to heave as the feeling built up beneath his palm. I couldn't stop myself anymore, moaning and whining as I tried my best keep up with him. The bucking of his hips stopped suddenly causing me to let out a shuddering breath.

"What are you doing?" I squirmed, rolling my head towards him, crushing my lips to his.

"Tell me you love me again." He whispered.

Groaning I kissed him again. "I love you. I love you. I love you. Now for god sake move!" I pressed my own tongue between his lips, drowning out my noises with his mouth. 

He picked up where he had left off, a little more quickly now, Dominic's own whimpers filling the space between our mouths. His hand worked furiously on my shaft, he had me a shaking breathless mess. Digging my fingers into both of his arms I could feel myself getting close. I could hear Dom's own erratic breathing in my ear. 

"I can't... Dom." My body jerked suddenly, throwing me over the edge, crying out as the pleasure washed over me. I heard Dominic's slow growl as he joined me, his head falling back to my shoulder, his hot breath on my back.

I shuddered as Dominic's hand slowed, riding me through my orgasm. My breathing was labored as I came back to earth, my body relaxing against his chest.

I heard a quiet chuckle over my shoulder. Twisting a little I quivered as Dominic slipped out of me, I rolled to face him, his cheeks flush and a little sweaty. 

"What's so funny back here?" I draped an arm around his neck. 

His eyes were low, a content smile on his face. "I'm up."

I traced my fingers across his collarbone, grinning a little. "My knee hurts."


	12. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yao Guai wrestling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eventually I will get caught up on these.

Our progress was slow across the Commonwealth, my knee still a little tender beneath a make shift brace. We followed behind Dogmeat, on the trail of the mercinary who had information about Dominic's son. 

"If you don't mind my asking where did you get those scars? You look like you've been in your fair share of fights. You look for trouble before the war too?" His pace was hard to keep, he was on a mission and I was injured.

"Business end of a red chinese." He said simply. "Cold-cocked me, was a good thing I wasn't alone, bastard knocked me out."

"Red chinese? Is that who you were fighting? You were a soldier? Are they the ones who did this?" I watched as he surveyed the area through his scope.

"Everyone had nukes, everyone is to blame for this." He stopped, focusing on something ahead.

"Did you like being in an army?" I walked up behind him, trying to see what he saw.

"Yeah, I'd like to say it straightened me out and made me the man I am, but the wasteland doesn't care if it changed me, because everything the military taught me is the day to day for you guys. Albeit I'm a little more trained, but everyone alive now had to learn it the heard way." He handed me the scope. "Just a head, digging into that dead thing."

"The only way is the hard way." I peered through it, catching the nearly furless beast ankle deep in a rotting brahmin. "We can go around, I don't feel like getting between a Yao Guai and it's dinner."

"Mmm, probably for the best." Dominic pat his knee calling Dogmeat to his side, letting him sniff at the cigars we picked from his house.

He barked, taking off down the track straight towards the bear. 

"No, Dogmeat!" Dominic darted after him, missing him by a hair. The dog yipped, his tail wagging, thinking it was a game.

In the distance our friend picked up his head, baring his teeth and letting out guttural roar.

"Jesus, Dom don't run after him, he'll come back." I sighed, rolling my eyes and aiming my rifle at the bear's head. The shot ringing in my ears, my bullet had pierced it's shoulder sending it into a frenzy, now barreling in my direction. It was focused on me snarling and huffing, I pulled my gun up to ready another shot in the center of it's head. Out of the corner of my eye I watched as Dominic turned on a dime, forgetting the dog and throwing himself shoulder first into the Yao Guai's ribs, knocking it to the ground. "Are fucking crazy?!" I panicked, not daring to let of a shot with him in the way.

He wrestled with it in the dust before finally getting it pinned under his arm. Taking it by the bottom jaw I saw him slip the barrel of his pistol to the massive beasts throat, stilling it with a single shot.

Jogging over to him I held out a hand.

"You swore." He huffed, laughing as he leaned on his knees.

"Damn right I swore! You're an idiot!" Grabbing him by the jaw I tilted his face up, a two inch cut right above my finger. "You deserve it."

"Uhm, you're welcome?" He moved away from me, stretching a little.

"You're welcome." I huffed. "You trying to get yourself killed?"

"Obviously not, I didn't have a problem taking him down actually." He almost sounded surprised, Dominic winced as he prodded at his face, finger grazing the mark.

"Do that again and it's me you'll be fighting with." I pointed at him. "Now, come on, we're burning daylight."

He nodded, whistling for the dog to pick up the trail. Dominic was silent as he started to follow, the dog's nose stayed to the ground, leading us through thickets, past dead raiders, eventually we came up on a cluster of buildings. We dispatched a few bloatflies hanging around a pond. Dogmeat lead us up to a closed in entrance, the doors boarded up with sandbags against them. Dogmeat barked, sitting at the door looking up at Dominic. He pat the pups head dropping himself to the floor.

"Come here boy." He started digging into his bag, pulling a tin of dried meat. "You did good. I'm gonna said him home, we can wait here for morning. Maybe we can find a building nearby to stay in so we're not out in the open."

"Are you nervous?" I tried to gauge how he was feeling, his eyes seemed unusually void of emotion, his humor dissipated. 

"I'm... I'm angry." He fluffed the dog's fur. "He's so close, half of me wants to kill him, the other half wants to drag him in chains to the institutes front door. I guess we'll see tomorrow."


	13. Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The feels, all of them.

"Hey, Preston? You seen Dominic?" I jogged up to him, my search for him turning up empty. "He wasn't at the Red Rocket when I got up this morning?"

"Hello Preston, good morning." Was he being sarcastic?

"Yeah, yeah. Pleasantries, I just want to know where he is?" I didn't care, he had been moody the last few days, fine one moment the next burning a hole in the wall with the deadliest thousand yard stare. To be honest I had grown a little more than worried. 

Preston sighed, giving in. "Yeah, he said he was going take a quick walk out around the lake, do a perimeter sweep for me. But uh..." Preston turned to look over his shoulder, like he was trying to make sure no one was around. "Last I saw him he was headed up the hill toward the vault, about twenty minutes ago."

"Thanks." I nodded, giving him my only semblance of manners.

I left him to his patrol, turning on a heel to head back down the road, hoping Dominic hadn't gone down into the vault. 

The bridge creaked as I ran across it, not trusting its integrity. My lungs burned a little as I climbed the hill, reminding myself that I wanted to quit smoking once again. As I came up around the corner I could see him, sitting on the ground, his armor in a heap next to him next to the vault-seal, his gun tossed to the side of it. I could hear a faint noise, it sounded like a woman, I looked around the area, not a person in sight. 

"I don't think that Shaun and I have to tell you what a great father you are, but we're going to anyway, isn't that right? You are kind and loving, and funny, that's right... and patient, so patient, patience of a saint my mother used to say. Look with Shaun and us all being home together it's been an amazing year, but even I know our best days are yet to come." 

Jesus. I stopped, perking my ears up. 

"They'll be changes sure, things we'll have to adjust to, you'll rejoin the civilian workforce and I'll shake the dust off my law degree. But everything we do, no matter how hard, we do it for our family. Now say goodbye Shaun, bye-bye, say bye-bye come on. Bye honey, we love you." I heard a few indistinct gurgles then the click of Dominic's Pip-Boy.

I heard a sniffle as I placed my hand on his shoulder, squeezing a little.

He jumped a little, but didn't look at me. "How much did you hear?"

"Somewhere around what a great father you are." There was a pile of flowers in front of him, mostly Hubflowers and a few Mutated Ferns. 

"I'm having a bit of a hard time." He wiped at his eyes, trying to not let me see.

"As many times as you've cried in front of me why are you trying to hide them now?" I got down on the ground next to him, crossing my legs.

"Guilt I suppose." He picked up a fern, sliding his fingers over the petals. "I told you I love you, and I do, but I keep crying over her, you must be sick of it by now. You don't cry over your wife, not nearly as much as I do. You don't keep have emotional breakdowns." He scowled a little.

"I've lived in THIS world a lot longer than you have. I've had more time to mourn then you have. You don't need to compare yourself to me, because I wasn't anywhere close to as productive as you are after my wife died. I was awake for days, watching my son sleep. I cried for weeks. I didn't dare close my eyes because I was afraid I would lose him too, when he got sick, I felt like I was going to die. I knew if I stayed and watched I wouldn't last very long, if he died so would I, one way or another. So, you have every right to cry. You don't need to feel guilty because I understand. I know it's hard, but I'm right here if you need me. You could spend every moment of the rest of your life thinking about her and it wouldn't change the way I feel about you, but I get it Dom, I understand." I looked out into the horizon, heaving a sigh of relief that he hadn't done something drastic. 

"She got his first word." A tear dropped from his eye, sliding down the screen on his Pip-Boy. "At the end, if you listen close. Did you hear it?"

I shook my head. "No. Maybe you should play it again." I scooted closer, wrapping my arm around his shoulder.

His finger hesitated for a moment then clicked the button down. We listened in silence, I strained at the end to hear what he had pointed out, and there it was, faint in the background. "He's gotten so far away from me, he been in this place longer than I have, I don't know if he's okay, if he is safe hands. I'm so tired." Dominic jerked a little, like he'd been punched in the stomach, suddenly cracking, he dropped the flower and covered his face. "She's still down there." He cried. "She'll be down there forever, frozen in time, having died trying to protect our son." 

I rubbed his shoulder, pulling him against me. I blinked as a tear fell from my cheek, I hadn't even noticed I'd started cry myself. Wiping it away quickly I pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "I know this probably isn't the best idea, but... do you, ya' know, wanna go down and see her?"

I felt him shake his head a little. "No, I don't think I could, thank you, but, god, I can't even begin to think about how I'd be down there. I just need a minute."

"Take as long as you need. The day is young. I'll be right here." I whispered into his hair.

"I'm sorry I came with so much baggage." He wiped at his face again.

"I think I'd find it weirder if you didn't."


	14. Competition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vroom vroom.

"Fifty caps says I find one first." I tossed a stray wing nut at him, rolling my eyes as he picked it up and threw it into his pocket.

"Fifty caps." He huffed, grinning a little. "And the loser gives the winner a massage."

"A massage? Oh, you're on." I heaved the wrecked hood of the car to the side and started digging through the metal mess. I had no idea what a spark plug was, only that he needed it for the motorcycle he had been working on every spare moment he got. He said that he had always wanted one, but Nora had thought it was to dangerous, that I would like it if he could ever get it working. I saw the picture in his book and he told me where to look, but knew that it was going to be hard to find one in good enough condition. Pulling at a few wires I managed to get the thing loose. It looked a bit bent, but I did as he said, struggling a little to get it free.

I followed suit with the others, one by one until I had a handful of greasy parts. We moved from car to car, the metal creaking and groaning with age, both of us filling a small blue box with the plugs. Returning to the small shack when we had collected from every car within reach. Dominic had more than plugs in his box, but dumped it out anyway.

"If you were looking for something else you could've told me." I picked up the awkwardly shaped piece of metal.

"It was just kind of laying there, it doesn't look to bad, I haven't even checked the brake pads yet." He started to rifle through my box, grabbing a few a rolling them in his hands. "Well, son of a bitch."

"Little harsh, what did they ever do to you?" I elbowed him.

Holding one up between his fingers he gave it a close inspection. "If I didn't know any better I'd swear this was nearly brand new. You ass."

"Oh yeah? I win then?" I smiled, knowing I had.

"Yeah, you win. Bastard." He kissed me on the cheek and pocketed the piece.

"If you quit swearing I just might return the favor." I gave him a wink.

"Is that so? Promise." He collected the boxes, one under each arm and nodded out the door. "Let's go home and try these out before you get too cocky. Deal was a working one."

It was a short hike home from Jalbert's, the sun beating down, telling me it was going to be another scorcher, a good day to stay at the Red Rocket and watch him work on that rust bucket. The garage door squeaked open painfully when Dominic push the glowing red button. Pulling up a seat on the cement floor he removed his armor and flannel, his once white tank top covered in black grimy smudges. Wiping out his book from his bag he flipped through it, lingering on a few pages before getting to work. He scrubbed at it quickly with a rag, giving it one last look.

Kicking a few tools to the side I sat next to him, watching him dig into the inner workings. "You know what I forgot about?" It sounded like a question, but answered it himself. "There's a bike right in Concord, behind all the buildings, what do you bet I could use some of those parts?"

"There's one in Concord and you walked this one home from the bridge?! You just like to torture yourself don't you." I handed him the wrench he had pointed to.

"Maybe, it's was the first one I found that still looked good. Just because the other one looks like garbage doesn't mean all of the parts are." Dominic looked a bit frustrated, having a hard time getting his hands in the right spot.

"How do you know how to fix this thing if you've never had one?" I pulled off my jacket and threw my hat to the side.

"The manual." He said simply.

"Oh yeah, just the book, of course." I shrugged, secretly wishing I had his prowess with anything. "I know enough to get by, but I don't think I could ever read something and actually learn something from it."

"You ready?" He got up and straddled the bike. Damn he looked good.

"Yeah, ready." I backed up against the workbench. "Are you sure it's not going to just explode or something?"

"Uh..." He lifted his foot to the petal. "No promises." 

"Great. Give it a go." I pulled myself to my feet, ready to make a mad dash if it did.

Twisting the key in the middle, machine let out a deafening roar, louder than any generator I had ever heard, but not as loud as a vertibird. It only lasted a second before he turned the key again, a smile like I'd never seen before spreading across his face. 

'Didn't explode, that's good." I closed the distance between us and held the bike as he climbed off.

"That's great. Still needs a little work, but I do believe I owe you." He looked like a child with a new toy.

"By the look on your face I think I know why she didn't want you to have one, you look like you're the one who won the bet." 

"I did, I'm one step closer to having a quick way to and from the Glowing Sea. Fixing this thing is easier than finding parts that fit together on a suit of Power Armor." He picked up his stuff, and pushed the button to close the garage again. "Now, let's go find some shade before we roast to death."

"I'm holding you too that massage." I grabbed my jacket and hat, following him out the door. 

"In this heat you just might regret letting me get my hands on you."


	15. Seduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Candlelight and some mac n' cheese. Such romance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got some time to catch up. Now I'm not a day behind anymore. Woo!

"What's all this?" I was taken aback by the site of the living room, candles dimly lit the room, casting long shadows. "Is this why you asked me to help Preston with a perimeter sweep? You know I can't stand that guy."

"He's a good man, you know it. And yes, I needed sometime to make dinner." He took my rifle and set it inside my locker by the door, then proceeded to take my jacket and hang it up.

"Why?" I let him lead me to the couch, folding a foot under my thigh as I sat.

"Do I need a reason?" He disappeared into the darkness of the kitchen.

I looked at the coffee table, silverware, wine, napkins laid out neatly, a couple glasses flickering in the light. I heard him clattering around a bit behind the wall before appearing again with two plates. "I guess you don't, but for some reason I feel like there is. This is a little over the top don't you think?"

"I can't help myself." Dominic shrugged, handing me a plate.

"I would've been happy with a bottle of rum and a round of target practice from the top of Star-Light." I gave him a kiss as he pulled up the cushion next to me. 

"I know." He smiled. "But there are people living there now, I don't think they'd appreciate the late night gun fire." 

"This looks fantastic though." I'd never been treated like this before, to be honest I felt a bit embarrassed. Brahmin, corn, and mac n' cheese. "I've never been as well fed in my life until now. You know that? Seriously I've never met anyone that cooks like you."

"Old world habit I guess." He poured out some wine into the glasses. "Your scrawny as it is, it's been doing you well."

"Thanks." I quipped, shoving a piece of brahmin in my face.

Leaning back, he flicked the radio on low, the hum of music filling the quiet space. "I actually..."

"I knew it." I threw him a smile.

He took a drink and grinned. "I'm going after Virgil tomorrow." 

I nearly choked, coughing a little. "Oh really, and when did you make this decision?"

"The bike in Concord had a working carburetor, it's fixed." He took a few bites, trying to act casual.

"What do you mean YOU'RE going after Virgil? Were you not planning on bringing me with you?" I was a little peeved. Did he really think he could just go alone?

"It's dangerous. Everyone I've talked to has told me that. You have a son to get back to, if you go with me, if something happens, then he'll have lost both his parents. You don't want to do that to him." He said matter-of-factly.

"So you're just going to drive that death trap into the Glowing Sea and hope to find an institute scientist in hiding? You don't even know where he is." He sounded crazy.

Dominic pulled out a piece of paper from under all his books, unfolding it and flipping it around. "I've got a plan, I'm not nuts. I'm going to drive in as far as I can and stash my bike somewhere hidden so no one can use it for scrap." He pointed to the map. "I was told that around here there's a small town of atom worshippers, I'll stop in, see if they've seen him, maybe he's living out there with them. I'll get whatever information I can I hightail it out of there before I grow a second head."

"Genius. How are you going to survive those rads? Huh, the Children of Atom have become accustom to that kind of exposure, and if remember correctly, one rad storm and you're heaving into tool boxes." Rad-X could only do so much.

"I got an old radiation suit from Carla last time she passed. I'm not going to be able to fit much of my armor under it, but it's better than coming home glowing." He tossed the map aside and took a stab at some more food.

"How long do you think?" I chugged some of the wine, it had never been my favorite.

"Day, day and a half." Dominic shrugged again. "Not really sure, if I can't find him out there I won't be able to stay long, but the bike will definitely cut down on travel time. But now that I've told you I'd like to forget about it, at least until morning."

"Just forget about it? Yeah, sure." I set my plate down and reached for the dark red bottle.

"Before you get carried away." He reached down beside the couch, procuring a more familiar bottle.

"You've got the right idea." I took it and unscrewed it, and my brain came to a realization, jesus I was numb. "Are you trying to get in my pants?"

He smiled. "I wasn't the main goal, but if it happens who am I to stop it. You are very hard to romance you know that, just kind of goes over your head most of the time." 

"I've never been 'romanced' before. Lucy and I were just kind of thrown together and fell in love. But you..." I swallowed a mouthful of the warm liquid. "You're actually trying."

"My charm and silver tongue have gotten me this far." He stole the bottle and took a quick drink. "I'll just have to keep out doing myself, you got the hint this time."

"Well, it's working." I pulled my legs up onto the couch and curled myself into his chest, taking the rum back from him. "Consider me seduced. I'm the cheapest date you'll ever have."

His fingers ran through my hair and I could feel his breath on my neck before he gave me a soft kiss below my ear. "Seems perfectly fine with me."


End file.
